“I originally went in on March 1st retired January 5th of 2007, I guess you can say I’m a lifer.”
- Chief GL Squirrel Murphy
“I originally went in on March 1st, 1966 and retired January 5th of 2007, I guess you can say I’m a lifer,” Squirrel Murphy said with a big smile at the East Coast All Seabee Reunion in Hampton, Virginia in 2007.
Chief Murphy shared his experiences that spanned over forty years of military service in the United States Navy. He had participated in many conflicts and stationed in a number of countries. He recalled his early years of service and shared, “My first assignment of duty was Vietnam. It was on coastal river operations, we did a lot of work with PBR’s and Swiftboats up and down the rivers (of South Vietnam)”. After serving his first tour in Vietnam, he volunteered for the Seabees, at which time he was ordered back to Vietnam.
“I had wanted to get into the Seabees … My first duty station with the Seabees was back over in Vietnam. So I was back over there for a second tour. I was there during a pretty hot period of time; the first period was 1966, 1967, 1968. We saw some pretty hot times there during the Tet Offensive.” These tours in Vietnam took the Chief all over the country for a wide range of different projects and assignments.
As if it was yesterday, Chief Murphy spoke with ease as he remembered all that he had seen and what he and his fellow Seabees had achieved. He shared, “We loaded up equipment and moved north up Highway One and put up hasty bridges and we could swing them into place and move forward. We were able to get the Marines back into the fight. We built schools, a one hundred bed hospital, we kept really busy. It was really exciting because we spent most of the time with the people and taught some school when I was there.” His stories about his service in Vietnam go beyond the battles and show the human side to the war and his personal connection and interactions with the South Vietnamese People.
USNM Interview of Squirrel Murphy Part One Service in Vietnam and Joining the Seabees
USNM Interview of Squirrel Murphy Part Three Middle East Service and the 5th Fleet
USNM Interview of Squirrel Murphy Part Two Service in Vietnam and the Silver Star
USNM Interview of Squirrel Murphy Part Four reflections of service and CAN DO
The United States Navy Memorial honors Chief GL Squirrel Murphy, featured within a new series titled, Stories of Service, Story of the Month. Each month, this series honors a Veteran’s story recorded by the Stories of Service Program at the Navy Memorial.